In a mixing bowl, whisk together the cornmeal and 1 cup of the milk. In a medium saucepan, scald the remaining 2 cups milk. Add the cornmeal mixture to the saucepan and cook, whisking constantly, over medium-low heat, until the mixture thickens (you'll begin to see the bottom of the pan as you whisk, about 10 minutes. remove from the heat; stir in the salt, sugar, and butter. Add the egg yolks one at a time, whisking to combine after each addition. Gently fold in the egg whites. Pour the mixture into the prepared baking dish and bake until the spoonbread is puffed, with a golden brown crust. About 1 hour. Serve with lots of butter.

Holy Cow - this was awesome! I made it last night for the family to go along with beef roast and gravy. I'm a huge fan of potatoes but decided this would be in place of that. YUM! So I did end up doing one thing different. I didn't have yellow but white cornmeal (it was also self rising) So I added 2 drops of yellow food coloring and left out the salt. Anyway it turned out great. We had 5 people eating dinner and several of us took a 2nd serving.Thanks for sharing

Ahhhh, I'm so glad you tried the spoon bread. Sometimes I think this poor post just sits there unnoticed. It is AMAZING with gravy. I think using white cornmeal would work just great. Thanks for your comment.

what is fat sauce? I am going to try your recipe. The one I've always used got packed when I moved and now my #2 son in begging for spoon bread. Yours uses the beaten egg whites like mine. I got my recipe from a Georgia cook book back in the 70's. It calls for white cornmeal. I'm going to try yours as is. Thank you so much for your beautiful instructions.

Janet, I love spoonbread, but haven't made it for years - I think the biggest issue I had with it is that it ties up the oven for an hour, and I tend to like to serve it with items that cook low and slow, like pulled pork. The other issue is that unless I have my oven on for something else, I don't always like heating up the oven (or kitchen) for an hour for just one thing. I guess spoonbread just fell by the wayside!

I think it's pure genius that you made yours in ramekins! Do you remember how many and how long you cooked it for?

Well I wish I was genius, but that's a small souffle dish. Looks like you're the genius because that's a great idea. That could be done easily. I would bake for about 15 - 20 minutes to start out with. I think I'll try it. I know what you mean by tying up the oven, I serve it with braised beef or pot roast. I just make the room for it. It's a family favorite.

My mother used to make this every friday night to go with fried flounder and sauteed(?) squash and onions. I have tried many mixes but this sounds like the recipe she used in the Rumford cookbook from the 1900's. Can't wait to try it for breakfast!

My daddy ALWAYS made this to go with the fried Spot and Croaker, that we catch on a Saturday fishing trip on the Rappahannock River in Virginia. I haven't been fishing in years but have a trip planned next weekend and I can't wait to make this to go with it!!!

The spoon bread is moist inside like a souffle. It should be moist by not doughy. You could try baking just little longer to see if that remedies the problem. Start with 5 minutes additional baking time. Best of luck.

Mine is jiggly when removed from oven! Did i do something wrong? I have never baked a soufelle before so i dont understand the part about soufelle texture/consistancy. Help please i made this for church tomorrow and would hate to disappoint with an undercooked made from scratch dish. :(

A souffle is puffed and beautiful when first pulled from the oven then slowly deflates. The inside texture is very soft, which almost melts in your mouth. If you think it was under cooked, why don't you bake it an additional 5 minutes. I try to time the meal so that the spoonbread is the last item put on the dinner table. I even leave it in the oven while we say grace on the food. I hopes this helps. Best of luck. Please let me know how your spoonbread turns out. I'll be anxiously waiting.

I was searching the web for the spoonbread I remember, and just from reading the recipe, I can see that this is the real thing. My New Yorker mother used to make spoonbread, as passed on to her from her Smoky Mountains mother-in-law, my grandmother. In no other respect did my mother take up Southern customs, but she could cook the food. I loved her spoonbread so much when I was a kid that I can't even remember what she served it with: all I see on the plate is that fluffy yellow goodness with butter running all over it. Thank you! By the way, I also thought of tempering the egg yolks -- think I'll try it that way.